Global Labor Film Festival Returns in May

Posted by on April 22, 2014

Guest Post by Chris Garlock, Director, DC Labor FilmFest

The second annual Global Labor Film Festival (GLFF) once again encircles the world with cinematic solidarity, touching down this year in Turkey, London, Vermont, New York, Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., Rochester, N.Y., and Monterey and San Jose, C.A..

Labor film festivals will screen a labor-themed film of their choice during the month of May, chosen because May 1—International Workers' Day—is a national holiday in more than 80 countries and celebrated unofficially in many other countries.

Nearly a dozen labor film festivals are participating in the GLFF, screening a wide range of films from the classics like "Salt of the Earth" (which celebrates its 60thanniversary this year) to "Pete Seeger: The Power of Song" and new films like "Oil Sands Karaoke" and "Schoolidarity: Reading. Writing. Revolution."

The GLFF showcases the growing worldwide scope of nearly three dozen film festivals focused on films about work and the issues workers face. The festival was first conceived at the second annual International Conference of Labor Film Festival Organizers at the 2012 DC Labor FilmFest, both of which are organized by the Metro Washington Council, AFL-CIO.

“Movies, like solidarity, are international, and the Global Labor Film Festival puts our shared struggles up on silver screens around the world,” says DC Labor FilmFest Director Chris Garlock. Anyone doing labor-themed screenings in May—or interested in doing so in 2015—is welcome to join the Global Labor Film Festival; email streetheat@dclabor.org.

“At a time when global corporations maintain a stranglehold on most broadcast media, these films show that courageous filmmakers can break through and communicate stories of workers' lives that unite and motivate the viewing audiences to take progressive local action for change,” adds Andrew Tilson, director of the Workers Unite Film Festival in New York City.

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